One blown boot

One blown boot r1 ...

Imagine for a moment, won’t you, that you’ve just been dropped off in the wilderness for six days. You’ve got your pack. You’ve got your food. You’ve got your guide.

Everything seems to be going rather well until you feel it — that slow tear at the seam of your boot that has you looking down and seeing your toes peeking out from below.

That’s pretty much where I found myself last month, out exploring the backcountry in Mount Edziza Provincial Park at the invitation of a Tahltan First Nation cultural guide.

A bad boot in the middle-of-nowhere is well…bad news.

We often have hilarious adventures and sometimes just straight up misadventures in the midst of our reporting. And these are more often than not, stories that go untold, seen as proximal to the real story.

But this time my boots —my ridiculous, old blundering why-did-my-mother-give-these-to-me boots — both came apart and became a part of the story. I just couldn’t find a way to write around them.

So this week we bring you something a little different in the mix: a slightly ridiculous tale of outdoor adventuring gone awry wherein, once again, we learn that we’re at the mercy of the fates and friends (and, yes, poor planning too). No matter how simple we want the world to be, complexity floods in, challenging us to see things and places and people differently.

This experience for me was a reminder that we can always do things better. And that I should always always pack extra tape.

But don’t let this sprawling feature photoessay worry you — we’ve still got all the everyday, original and fresh reporting you know us for.

This week we also have a bombshell in-depth feature by Sarah Cox on the secretive Site C oversight board, an investigation into Teck Resources and how they escaped over $12,000 in fines and a doozey of a feature on the beleaguered fate of Imperial Metals.

This and so much more. Enjoy.


Carol Linnitt
Managing Editor


p.s. You know y'all are the best newsletter recipients of all time, right?

Last week we welcomed a new member to our team and the response was positively scrumptious. Thank you for your emails and well wishes and big, warm welcomes. You keep the blood pumping around here.

What happens if Imperial Metals goes bankrupt?

By James Wilt

The owner of the Mount Polley and Red Chris mines is in hot water. The share price has plummeted, costly cleanup of the Mount Polley disaster is ongoing and interest on debt is mounting. All of this begs the question: what will happen to the environmental liabilities if the company goes belly-up? Read more.

B.C. court okays Taseko’s exploratory drilling in Indigenous park for rejected mine project

By Judith Lavoie

The mine has been rejected by the federal government — twice —and the local Tsilhqot'in First Nation is vehemently opposed to its construction in a sacred area of their traditional territory. But that didn't stop a judge from ruling mining company Taseko could begin drilling, building roads and constructing a worker camp as part of the New Prosperity mine's 'exploratory work.' Read more.

Things have never been so good for humanity, nor so dire for the planet

By Arno Kopecky

Not only are things too good for us to worry about the environment, they’re also too bad, writes Arno Kopecky in this evocative essay about how we relate to the environmental devastation around us as standards of living continue to rise to an historical zenith. Read more.

B.C. shaved $12,000 off environmental fines for Teck mining pollution

By Carol Linnitt

Oh, to be so well connected that with a little nudge, B.C. ministries will cut more than ten grand off of a fine you're given for polluting water. Meanwhile the rest of us can't even get a traffic ticket waived. Read more. Word of the week: Berniered
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Join hundreds of other readers and become a member of The Narwhal by giving whatever you can each month. Together, we're making reader-funded public interest journalism a reality.

Court documents offer revealing glimpse of secretive Site C dam oversight board

By Sarah Cox

The NDP government appointed what they called an "independent" project assurance board to look at the Site C project. Guess how many members are also BC Hydro directors or worked for Site C contractors? Read more.

Fighting historic wildfires amid bad ideas and no funding

By Edward Struzik

There are lots of myths and misconceptions around managing wildfire risk. Unfortunately, they seem to be informing some big decisions. Read more. We get it. This summer's been a little...weird. Help make it right by sending this newsletter signup link to a friend who needs it. r33 Copyright © 2018 The Narwhal, All rights reserved.
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